The Heart of the Forest
by melness0128
Summary: The forest of Divinia was full of beautiful trees, big ones taller than the marble pillars of Athens and smaller ones with colorful flowers that filled the air with glorious scents, but none of them could outshine Charlotte's tree; for though it was smaller and bore no flowers it was hers, and hers alone. OR the one where Becky is a naiad and Charlotte is a dryad.
The forest of Divinia was full of beautiful trees, big ones taller than the marble pillars of Athens and smaller ones with colorful flowers that filled the air with glorious scents, but none of them could outshine Charlotte's tree; for though it was smaller and bore no flowers it was hers, and hers alone. Her tree was towering and strong and overlooked a small spring, it's many branches covered with large green leaves the size of her palm. On a warm day it offered not only shade but the promise of a cool drink and sometimes a deer or a family of foxes would take shelter from the heat beneath her tree and on these days Charlotte would separate her spirit from the tree and take her physical form so that she could roll around in the grass with the fox pups or run her fingers over the glossy white length of the deer's impressive antlers; these were her favorite days. It was on a day such as this that everything changed.

The sun was beating down unmercifully, the air so thick with heat it felt like walking through mud and made it hard to breathe. Many of her animal friends had come to take respite from the scorching sun beneath her tree and to drink from the spring. Some of the young ones had taken to the water, frolicking around the shore and splashing each other when suddenly the water started to churn, swirling around at its center and rising up like a wave but instead of heading towards shore it continued to rise higher, twisting and turning until it became the outline of a mortal woman and finally became a real, corporeal body. She stood there in the center of the spring, the water supporting her as if it were solid earth, the sun shining down on her and illuminating her bright orange locks until they danced like flames around her angular face. Her eyes were a deep green like the leaves of her tree in the fall and they shone with kindness as she smiled at the animals she'd frightened when she'd taken form and then she spoke.

"I'm sorry to have scared you, little ones. My name is Becky and I'm the Naiad of this spring, charged with its care and protection. We're so happy to be able to share its cool waters with you on such a day, and any other. It is our purpose."

Her voice was deeper than what you would expect for such a feminine beauty and it was tinged with an accent that Charlotte had never heard before but it suited her perfectly and as she continued to speak to the animals around her it washed over Charlotte like the sweetest music and she felt she could listen to Becky speak forever.

Hours passed as Charlotte watched Becky interacting with the animals. Conjuring little waterspouts for the young ones to splash around in, summoning water to her cupped hands for the heavily pregnant doe to drink from so she didn't have to leave the shade of Charlotte's tree. She lent a hand in grooming a dove and did such a good job that other birds gathered around to wait their turn. She just chuckled good naturedly, smiled, and groomed each bird while whistling along with them happily.

When the sun had begun to dip below the horizon and the animals had started to head back to their homes Becky bid them all a goodnight, returned to the edge of the spring and dove in. There was a splash and then she was gone, merging with the water and returning to her natural water spirit form.

* * *

Charlotte spent the night watching the moonlight twinkle off of the surface of Becky's spring and thinking about how she was the kindest, most beautiful nymph that Charlotte had ever seen. Her striking eyes, her luxurious flowing locks and her petite curvy body were enough to rival Aphrodite herself. Charlotte wonders what it would be like to have Becky smile at her like she had the young ones today, to look at her with the same fondness she had the group of frogs that live in her waters or to have her fingers stroking over her skin the way they had over the birds feathers. When she thought about Becky's hands on her she started to shiver hard enough to loose some of her trees leaves from their branches and she watched in horror as they fluttered to the ground. She apologized to her tree and did her best not to think about Becky's hands anymore.

A difficult task indeed.

* * *

For weeks afterwards Charlotte watched Becky from her tree; watched with eagerness when the water would roil and churn signaling Becky's transformation and watched with barely restrained glee when her activities would bring her closer to Charlotte's tree, close enough to touch if she just reached out with one of her branches.

On one such day Becky was resting on the shore of the spring sprawled out face upturned towards the sun pouring over her nude body, turning it the lightest shades of pink when the sky suddenly cracked with the sound of rolling thunder and rain started pouring down from the heavens in a deluge. Becky stood up and spreading her arms out wide she started to spin and dance around the spring while the air was filled with the sound of her throaty laughter. Before long she was drenched from head to toe, her orange hair sticking to her back and shoulders and breasts, rainwater making its way down her body in rivers that seemed to trace her curves; from the perky globes of her breasts, down over her flat stomach, to her hip and down the slope of her ass.

Charlotte's heart was hammering in her chest and it took everything in her to keep from letting her emotions get the best of her. She wasn't sure what the feeling pooling in her gut was but she knew that she'd never felt it before and therefore was ignorant to its effects on her tree and of nothing is she more certain than that she needed to protect her precious tree. A part of her wanted nothing more than to take physical form and join Becky, to link their hands and spin around until they were both breathless and collapse in heap on the soft, wet ground, their bodies pressed together, slick skin to slick skin but a larger part of her was too afraid. She'd only ever seen a handful of other nymphs and even then she'd never spoken to one let alone touched one and the thought of introducing herself to Becky had a totally different feeling seizing her gut, one that she knew well; fear.

No, she couldn't introduce herself but maybe there was something else she could do.

* * *

For the next three nights Charlotte wandered the forest gathering the most beautiful flowers that the woods had to offer; royal blue cornflowers and regal purple hydrangeas, pink roses to match her lips and orange buttercups the same shade as her hair. When she had all the blossoms she needed Charlotte painstakingly weaved their fragile stems together to make a beautiful flower crown. On the fourth night, just before dawn, when the sun was just beginning to paint the sky with its fingers of orange and pink and yellow, Charlotte crept over to the bank of the spring near her tree (where Becky sometimes liked to take form) and laid the flower crown on a pillow of clover she'd beckoned grow there and then raced back to her tree, taking refuge in its wooden heart.

She waited there, her heartbeat quickening at every ripple of the springs surface in anticipation of Becky's arrival, until finally the water began to churn and writhe, rising up into a spout and when it was all said and done, there she was; Becky, looking every bit the goddess Charlotte thought she was. She made her way across the surface of the water to the shore, a slow smile spreading across her face and once her feet touched land she made her way over to the flower crown. As she bent at the waist and delicately picked it up. She held it tenderly in her hand as she stroked a finger over the satiny petals and the smile on her face grew until it was practically blinding. She placed the crown on her head and it fit perfectly, cushioned by the soft tresses of her fiery hair. She turned her eyes upwards as if trying to catch a glimpse of how the crown looked on her and then realizing the futility of her actions rolled her eyes and went back to the shore of the spring to gaze at her reflection in its surface.

When Becky caught sight of herself in the crown joy spread over her face and if Charlotte thought her smile was dazzling before this one is positively resplendent, it fills her eyes until they shimmer like twin points of jade fire; it fills her up until it is spilling out of her in jubilant laughter and Becky starts to dance around the spring. Charlotte is lost to the graceful sway of her body and she loses track of how long she watches her.

Becky's laughter had caught the attention of many of the forest creatures and soon they gathered round in curiosity. When a robin chirped its inquiry as to what had put Becky in such a jovial mood she halted her dancing long enough to answer, "Why don't you see, I'm queen of the spring now!" and then she laughed again and continued dancing about.

Charlotte felt happier then she could ever remember feeling, watching the way Becky reacted to her gift, the glee it had brought her. It was like every microscopic piece of her was filled with happiness until there was no room for anything else and her heart felt full to bursting with it.

Becky's dancing had brought her nearer and nearer to Charlotte's tree and her delight bled into anticipation. Becky had stopped dancing now and was just standing there in front of her tree and staring at it warmly as she extended her hand and laid it flat against the trunk of her tree. Her hand was small and porcelain smooth against the roughness of her tree's bark and Charlotte shivered to the core of her being, causing her tree to shake in response.

"I know you're in there," Becky whispered. "And I'll be waiting for you here when you decide to show yourself." She smiled fondly at the tree, stroking her hand over it one last time before turning back to the spring and melting into its depths.

* * *

It takes Charlotte awhile to build up her courage but one day Becky is lying back on the grass having just emerged from a cooling dip in her spring and the way the sun is glistening off of her creamy skin, the way her nipples harden as the sun dries her breasts. The ever present sense of longing in her gut every time she sees Becky overwhelming her just like that day so long ago when she'd watched Becky dancing in the rain and not giving herself time to have second thoughts she stepped out from her tree and took form in front of Becky for the first time.

Becky sits up in surprise, a quiet gasp escaping her as she quickly gains her feet and faces Charlotte. Less than a dozen steps separate them and if she extended her arm she could almost touch her but Charlotte's too afraid to close the distance so she stands there, heart pounding behind her ribs as she waits for Becky to make the first move.

The dryad standing in front of Becky is tall and lean, like her tree, with long blonde hair that reaches the tops of her breasts and barely brushes over her nipples with each breath that she takes. Her eyes are crystalline blue like the waters of her spring and her face is all sharp angles, softened by her pastel pink lips and the beauty mark below them. She's so incredibly beautiful that Becky loses track of how much time she spends just looking at her but it's like time slows down and the world around them dims until all Becky sees is her. She stares so long that the dryad starts to fidget, digging her toes into the soft grass as she waits for Becky to say or do something and finally Becky regains her ability to speak.

"You're here!" Oh wow, Becky, that was brilliant!

She nods once, "I'm here." and then lifts a shoulder in a causal shrug.

Becky swallows once and takes a deep breath before trying again. "What I meant was, I'm so glad you finally decided to show yourself to me. The flower crown was lovely; it must have taken a lot of work to make something so beautiful."

"Three days."

"Why then, after so much effort, not keep such splendor for yourself? Why give it to a naiad you'd never met before?" The blonde swallows hard and Becky watches the muscles flex beneath her pale skin and her mouth goes dry at the sight. She has to tear her eyes away from that creamy column of flesh in order to focus on her face as the dryad begins to speak.

"I saw you take form on your first day out of the spring and all I could think was that you were the most beautiful, kindest being I'd ever seen. The way you looked at the animals, with such warmth and tenderness, I wanted to know how it would feel to have you look at me that way; the way you touched the animals with such gentleness, I wanted to know how it would feel to have you touch me like that. As I continued to watch you I'd see you dance and sing and your wild, carefree nature brought me more happiness than I'd ever known and I knew that someone as radiant as you deserved to be adorned with the finest things, to be lavished with gifts and attention and I knew that I wanted to be the one to do all those things. So maybe you'd look at me like that, maybe you'd touch me like that." She says it with such passion that her voice shakes with it, her eyes imploring Becky to understand.

It was said that the blood of a naiad ran as cold as the waters of the springs and river they protected and so they were frigid and aloof by nature but at that moment Becky knew that couldn't be true because she was iwarm/i; from the tips of her fingers to the tips her toes was awash in a glow of something almost inexplicable but if she had to put a name to it she'd dare call it love.

She's grinning so wide her cheeks are starting to hurt but she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. "What should I call you, friend?"

"They call me Charlotte when I am in my physical form."

"Well, Charlotte, I would very much like to kiss you," and now her smile takes on a mischievous glint. "In our physical forms. Would that be agreeable to you?"

"I...I...uh yes, it would be agreeable to me."

Becky finally closes the distance between them, wraps her arms around Charlotte's neck and rises up onto her toes to press their lips together. At the first brush of Becky's lips her body starts to tingle, little pinpoints of pleasure flowing over her skin like the very waters Becky embodies and she moans into her mouth. She slips her hands into Becky's hair, pressing closer in search of more and it's like spun silk in her hands. She glides her tongue back over Becky's lips, teasing at the seam in a bid to get deeper. Her lips part on a sigh and Charlotte slips inside to explore the velvety cavern, she runs her tongue along Becky's in a playful swirl before sucking her bottom lip into her mouth and nibbling on it before dipping back inside.

When they are both panting and breathless Becky pulls back, her eyes still closed and a dreamy smile on her face that has Charlotte's knees going weak. She rubs the pad of her thumb over Becky's cheekbone where her skin has flushed pink from their kisses and Becky's eyes, when she opens them, are like pools of green deep enough for Charlotte to drown in.

"That was lovely." She says on a sigh. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Now it's Charlotte's turn to smile and to Becky it's bright enough to outshine the very sun. "I'd like that."

Becky twines their fingers together and they start off into the forest, neither one of them quite knowing what would happen next or how their relationship would develop but both of them eager to find out.

 _ **The End**_

* * *

 **A/N:** This was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend on tumblr after the Divas Valentine's Day Photo Shoot 2016 where Becky looked like a veritable nymph!If you enjoyed it, let me know it!


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